Topics in the News: political action

Thousands of UFT members have signed up to be part of the campaign urging the city to provide paid parental leave. Many of them shared stories of being forced to return to work just days or weeks after giving birth because of financial considerations that would not allow them to take a longer, unpaid leave.

New Yorkers had their say, and they said no — resoundingly — to a state constitutional convention on Nov. 8. “The Vote NO campaign was a case study in how engaged and informed union members can mobilize to protect their rights and benefits,” said UFT President Michael Mulgrew.

UFT members spend their days nurturing and supporting other people’s children, yet the Department of Education’s current parental leave policy forces them to choose between their newborns and earning a paycheck that is critical to the wellbeing of their families.

UFT-backed candidate Francisco Moya won the Democratic Primary on Sept. 12 in the contest for the open seat on the New York City Council for the 21st District in Corona and Elmhurst, Queens. Citywide, UFT-backed candidates claimed victory in 13 out of the 16 contested Council races where the union made an endorsement.

It’s a big win for our students: This year, virtually all New York City public schools will offer universal free lunch. The UFT helped to make it happen. UFT members and officers testified at hearings, lobbied Mayor Bill de Blasio and spread the word through social media, rallies and regular news conferences.

New Yorkers entering the voting booth on Nov. 7 will face a choice on the back of their ballots: whether or not to allow a costly and open-ended state constitutional convention to rewrite the state’s highest law, putting public-employee pensions and other cherished rights and benefits at risk.

The UFT stands in solidarity with the AFT and Asociación de Maestros de Puerto Rico, the AMPR-Local Sindical and other trade unions to find solutions that advance our shared values of safeguarding public education and workers’ rights through collective bargaining.

With an administration in the White House that has shown skepticism and even contempt for scientific research and evidence, science teachers and other UFT members took to the streets on Saturday, April 22, along with thousands of fellow New Yorkers at the March for Science.

With public education at risk from Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ privatization agenda, more than 800 UFT members and public school parents journeyed to Albany to call on state lawmakers to protect and support New York City public schools.

The United Federation of Teachers will embark on a voter-registration drives for eligible New York City High School students and others eligible to vote in New York City; the UFT will seek to work with our community and civil rights partners to increase voter education, registration and participation; the UFT will educate, assist and empower those in New York City who are not eligible to vote on matters regarding individual rights and safety as well as roles and responsibilities of active citizen engagement.

Love was in the air this Valentine’s Day — love for public schools, that is. In the face of the threat to public education posed by the Trump administration and its new education secretary Betsy DeVos, educators, students and parents across the city demonstrated why they love their public schools.

UFT delegates voted overwhelmingly to endorse the mayor’s re-election bid set for this coming November. “We are blessed that we have a mayor who will stand with every single public school teacher to defend our profession and the right to be unionists,” UFT President Michael Mulgrew said.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew urged state lawmakers on Feb. 14 in Albany to fully fund the foundation aid that New York City schools need — and to extend and enhance the millionaire’s tax to help pay for it.